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Driessen Calls Feyenoord Fans 'Criminals' After Fireworks Halt Match

Valentijn Driessen, De Telegraaf's football editor, condemned Feyenoord fans who set off fireworks during a match against SC Cambuur, calling them 'criminals' and urging a ban on away supporters. The match was halted after 12 minutes, with five supporters injured.

By Tertius News AI Desk 1 outlet · 1 distinct · 1 article Version 2 Coverage Aug 24, 2026 Published 3d ago

Incident Details

The match between SC Cambuur and Feyenoord in Leeuwarden was halted after just 12 minutes when large quantities of fireworks were set off from the away end in the South Stand. According to Cambuur, the fireworks were not confined to the stands; they were also fired towards the pitch and the surrounding areas.

The consequences were severe, with the club reporting five injured supporters suffering from burns, hearing damage, and eye injuries. An official statement from Cambuur said, "It goes without saying that all care and attention are focused on these injured supporters and everyone at the club is hugely affected."

Driessen's Reaction

Valentijn Driessen, the De Telegraaf football editor, did not hold back in his criticism of the fans responsible. He described them as "simply criminals," attributing the incident to an "organised action." Driessen added, "I happened to have contact with someone, and he said it was for fun. If this is what you get your enjoyment from, you're not right in the head."

Driessen also argued for banning away supporters altogether, citing a recent match between Feyenoord and Ajax as an example where the policy worked effectively. "I argue it every time: stop away supporters. Then you get rid of a whole lot of trouble. Feyenoord v Ajax is being played on a Saturday evening. And that is possible, because there are no Ajax supporters. Lovely, isn't it?"

Security Concerns

The incident raised questions about how such a large number of fireworks could be brought into the stadium. Driessen expressed amazement at the logistics, suggesting that if the section had been cleared, it might have brought "a lot of misery" on the club. He also called on Feyenoord to launch an internal investigation into who was in that end of the ground, implying that many troublemakers might have slipped through security measures.

Feyenoord general manager Robert Eenhoorn also voiced concerns, stating that "our own goalkeeper had a flare fired at him and only just managed to avoid it." The goalkeeper, Tjark Ernst, had a firework explode on the pitch just a few metres away from him.

Aftermath

The match was eventually resumed and Feyenoord went on to win 5-2, though the focus remains firmly on the safety issues raised by the incident. The authorities are considering responses, including the possibility of adjusting stadium protocols to prevent such occurrences in the future.

How this outlet told it

Yardbarker as of Aug 24, 2026, 8:20 AM UTC

Framing: Headline focuses on Driessen's one-word condemnation ('criminals') of Feyenoord fans, emphasizing his personal reaction rather than the injuries or the match itself. — Critical and outraged, using Driessen's harsh language like 'criminals' and 'not right in the head'.

Facts Included:

The match in Leeuwarden was halted after 12 minutes when large quantities of fireworks were set off from the away end in the South Stand.
Cambuur say fireworks were also fired towards the pitch and the surrounding stands.
Five injured supporters, suffering from burns, hearing damage, and eye injuries.
Feyenoord won the match 5-2, though this fact is not explicitly stated—actually omitted.
Driessen calls the fans 'simply criminals' and says the action was organised.
Driessen argues for banning away supporters, citing Feyenoord v Ajax as an example.
Driessen questions how so many fireworks were brought in and suggests clearing the section.
Driessen calls for Feyenoord to examine who was in that end, suggesting many troublemakers slipped through.

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimThe match between SC Cambuur and Feyenoord in Leeuwarden was halted after 12 minutes when large quantities of fireworks were set off from the away end in the South Stand.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Yardbarker as of Aug 24, 2026, 8:20 AM UTC
ClaimCambuur say fireworks were also fired towards the pitch and the surrounding stands.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Yardbarker as of Aug 24, 2026, 8:20 AM UTC
ClaimFive injured supporters were confirmed to have been injured, suffering from burns, hearing damage, and eye injuries.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via Al Jazeera as of Aug 24, 2026, 12:45 PM UTC, Yardbarker as of Aug 24, 2026, 8:20 AM UTC
ClaimFeyenoord won the match 5-2.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Al Jazeera as of Aug 24, 2026, 12:45 PM UTC
ClaimThe match was halted for about 20 minutes in the first half.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Al Jazeera as of Aug 24, 2026, 12:45 PM UTC
ClaimOne firework exploded on the pitch just a few metres from Feyenoord goalkeeper Tjark Ernst.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Al Jazeera as of Aug 24, 2026, 12:45 PM UTC
ClaimFeyenoord general manager Robert Eenhoorn said: 'Our own goalkeeper had a flare fired at him and only just managed to avoid it.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Al Jazeera as of Aug 24, 2026, 12:45 PM UTC
ClaimDriessen called the fans who set off fireworks 'simply criminals' and said it was an organised action.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Yardbarker as of Aug 24, 2026, 8:20 AM UTC
ClaimDriessen argued for banning away supporters, citing Feyenoord v Ajax as an example.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Yardbarker as of Aug 24, 2026, 8:20 AM UTC
ClaimDriessen questioned how so many fireworks were brought into the stadium and suggested clearing the section.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Yardbarker as of Aug 24, 2026, 8:20 AM UTC
ClaimDriessen called for Feyenoord to examine who was in that end, suggesting many troublemakers slipped through.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Yardbarker as of Aug 24, 2026, 8:20 AM UTC
ClaimLeeuwarden Mayor Foort van Oosten condemned the incident and promised an investigation.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Al Jazeera as of Aug 24, 2026, 12:45 PM UTC
ClaimJan Bluyssen, KNVB manager of professional football competition affairs, said: 'That doesn't feel right. We need to examine whether the protocol is still appropriate and how we might want to adjust it.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Al Jazeera as of Aug 24, 2026, 12:45 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

1 outlet · 1 distinct · 1 article consulted: Yardbarker 13 claims extracted Version 2 Written 2026-08-24